Sonics owner tells NBA he wants to move team to Oklahoma City

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by PeppyGPhiB

How many people live in Oklahoma City and the surrounding area? I know folks have said that the Hornets games had good attendance when they were there, but that was a limited engagement and a novelty. Novelty wears off; what happens when the team isn't new anymore, the team stinks, and ticket prices go up? Is the population of that area big enough to support the team? Or are they going to have to rely on the same small core of people to go to every game?

We're about a 1.5M MSA.

It's tough to speculate as to how we'll support a 'down' team. Remember, when the Hornets came to OKC, they were one of the worst teams in the league. In the first year, if you don't count the poorly-attended NO games, we were 9th in the NBA in attendance. That year, the team was sub .500. We had 18 sellouts or better. 2006 was comparable, but I wasn't able to find any exact numbers.

We put 85,000+ butts in seats for all of the Oklahoma U. football games, so I think we can support the team. We did well with the sub-.500 Hornets, but we'll see. I think we'll be able to support the team. If I'm wrong, I'm sure you'll quote this post in a few years and have a good laugh at my expense.

The Key Arena is essentially a new arena. Not on the outside, since it was the original Coliseum, but the inside was completely gutted in the 90s. Why would we want to pay another $250 MILLION to renovate it again just 10 or 15 years later? We renovated it the first time according to what the Sonics owners wanted, and the past several years they haven't even come close to selling it out. In the end many Seattlites just got tired of the constant whining from team owners, especially the owners from out of state that I think everyone knew would want to move the team - that was the first thing I thought of when I heard that some out-of-towner had bought the Sonics.

According to Stern, the arena didn't meet NBA criteria. I don't really have anything bad to say about the Key. I'm sure it's a fine facility. I don't have anything more to go on. OKC's Ford Center was built in '95 as an "NBA-ready" facility. It's getting $150 million worth of improvements to bring it up to par for the new team. Comparing two arenas, I'm sure, is apples to oranges.

I was struck by one of Bennett's comments last night at his press conference when he mentioned that the Ford Center was limited in that it doesn't have enough seats (19,675).

A new arena is probably in the works. OKC has had a series of public works programs geared at improving the city. Somoe of the tentative drawings I've seen on OKC's next big round of public works programs include a new, larger arena.

OKC has passed all of these public works programs by a very wide margin.

At least we got to keep the nickname, colors, etc. so that we can bring back the Sonics another time if we want to. I'd personally much rather have a NHL team.

It would have been odd to have the Oklahoma City Sonics. I think Bennett's decision to take the trophies/record/etc. was the wrong one. I think all of that ought to remain in Seattle.

NHL is good stuff. I think the Grizzlies may be heading your way soon enough.

[PeppyGPhiB]

Originally Posted by Kevin

According to Stern, the arena didn't meet NBA criteria. I don't really have anything bad to say about the Key. I'm sure it's a fine facility. I don't have anything more to go on. OKC's Ford Center was built in '95 as an "NBA-ready" facility. It's getting $150 million worth of improvements to bring it up to par for the new team. Comparing two arenas, I'm sure, is apples to oranges.

I was struck by one of Bennett's comments last night at his press conference when he mentioned that the Ford Center was limited in that it doesn't have enough seats (19,675).

A new arena is probably in the works. OKC has had a series of public works programs geared at improving the city. Somoe of the tentative drawings I've seen on OKC's next big round of public works programs include a new, larger arena.

The Sonics have played at the same location for 40 years - I assure you there's nothing wrong with Key Arena...it's perfectly regulation, or the NBA wouldn't allow games to be played there. What Bennett and other owners don't like is that it's not HUGE. I think it seats around 17,000. It's not a place designed for fine dining before a game, so it doesn't have real restaurants like you'd see at some sports arenas or airports. But it's modern enough that it has tons of concessions areas and plenty of women's bathrooms...that should be a testament to how recently it was renovated, because as women know, older arenas have few women's facilities! Anyway, we're still paying for the renovations to Key Arena, which now I guess will be used just for concerts and high school basketball tournaments.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by PeppyGPhiB

The Sonics have played at the same location for 40 years - I assure you there's nothing wrong with Key Arena...it's perfectly regulation, or the NBA wouldn't allow games to be played there. What Bennett and other owners don't like is that it's not HUGE. I think it seats around 17,000. It's not a place designed for fine dining before a game, so it doesn't have real restaurants like you'd see at some sports arenas or airports. But it's modern enough that it has tons of concessions areas and plenty of women's bathrooms...that should be a testament to how recently it was renovated, because as women know, older arenas have few women's facilities! Anyway, we're still paying for the renovations to Key Arena, which now I guess will be used just for concerts and high school basketball tournaments.

I did actually look into the renovations Seattle did. Calling the Key "old" is definitely a misnomer. There are maybe only a couple of structural elements which are old. The rest was complete gutted.

Best of luck in getting a new team. I hope our new team in OKC works out.

[Buttonz]

It's all about the money. And I bet you when he called the Key "old" one of the things he was referring to is people aren't going to come just to see the Key, vs. how people will come to see a new arena/stadium even if the team is playing like shit. Even bad teams to amazing in attendance the first year of a new place.